Refrigerant systems such as refrigerators and air conditioners collectively consume enormous amounts of energy. Energy consumption of refrigerant systems is likely to increase as a result of the replacement of chlorine-containing heat transfer fluids with chlorine-free organic heat transfer fluids for the purpose of protecting the ozone layer.
The replacement of R-22 (difluoromonochloromethane) with a chlorine-free hydrofluorocarbon heat transfer fluid illustrates this problem. R-22 has very good thermodynamic properties resulting in a lower volume replacement per ton of refrigeration than other commercial heat transfer fluids. Accordingly, refrigerant systems utilizing R-22 require less energy than systems utilizing other heat transfer fluids including expected replacement heat transfer fluids for R-22.
An improvement in the performance of refrigerant systems would help alleviate the energy inefficiences resulting from the replacement of chlorine-containing heat transfer fluids with better thermodynamic properties. In fact, even a small improvement in the performance of refrigerant systems can translate into large monetary savings given the enormous amounts of energy being consumed by these systems. Such improvements in performance would also benefit the environment as any reduction in energy requirements will reduce the adverse effect on the environment caused by energy production.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to improve the performance of refrigerant systems in terms of reducing their energy requirements. It is also an object to improve such performance with working fluids that are compatible with and remain stable in refrigerant systems over long periods of operation.